Jason Concepcion on Knicks Fandom

David? Yes from Memorial Day I. part in a red blooded American tradition I ks the movies Oh I was thinking of something more violent Um Great You thought I went to war Yeah. No, I don't know what the greatest American tradition would have been. probably war ye. Anyway, go ahead We saw the Mandalorian and Grogu We once again went to a theater with moving seats. No Any movie is twenty percent better. When the seats move Any movie Yeah, the last time we tried this out was with the latest Jurassic Park sequel, which Need a twenty percent boost The Mandaloid and Grogu also needed a twenty percent boost. A, I thought it was great I liked it Yeah It got to the three out of four St Gade for me? Yeah. Everything everybody said was true. Mm. It did feel like a couple of episodes stapled together There were some horrible special effects and really bad acting, but you know what Had a good time at the movies Yeah, it was a good time. I went on Sunday And did not have a special theater. Well, I mean, it was it was an AMC that used to be an Alamo drive house style. We serve you food in your seat place And I guess they stopped so you could still they would still bring you food from the concession stand. but there was no like you didn't order from your seat or anything you can get red vines brou directly to you. Like I went up there and I ordered like some cand I was with my seven year old. so he got some like candy and like a drink And he got like a water and I got a soda And it was the soda, it's said on the menu What's it called the freestyle? Like the Coch freestyle, you know, where you get the big cup and you put whatever concoction of drinks in there So I'm just waiting for the cup and she's just like, oh no we bring you that And I was like, but I didn't even tell you what I wanted it. and she said, No, you said Coke. And I was like, o, I must have said it absentmindedly Um But yeah, they bring you the like you tell them what you want and they fill it up for you. So I was like, what if I want like a half coke zero with vanilla? they're like, we can do that. And I'm like, okay And they did have moving seats, not the right kind. I sat in the seat and just fell over backwards This AMC needed some work. But yeah, I thought it was really good. Also my seven year old fell asleep about two minutes into the main feature and slept through the entire thing. Oh no That's fine So was Naptun Yeah. Yeah. it was on those grounds, if nothing. Yeah, it was like five o'clock or something like that when when he finally passed out, and I was like, this is a really bad time to're take a nap. but Yeah I was let and sleep And he didn't seem disappointed at all. He was like, ye, okay, well, maybe I get to go back or Maybe I'll see it when it comes out on TV, but it was a cool story for him that he just slept through a whole movie I guess. when you're seven You're on a different scale If you're looking for the real moving seats versus David's broken bark lounger called Dbox which is a really funny name and sounds Kind of like I'm calling you something David That's the name of a moving seat technology Dbx Does that do they have three D Dbux Well, this is the thing I'm sure you do this. You go buy tickets on your phone Mhm And There's IMax, you and I understand what IMax is. Yes. And then there's a lot of sub Maxes. Oh yeah all sound exactly alike. And when I first got the moving seats, I just assumed Dbox was like IMAX, but not official Yes. Bigger screen, better sound, movie projected on the sides of the theater, which I also accidentally bought a ticket to the other day su I went and saw the original top gun And it was On the screen, but in certain scenes, it was also on the walls of the theater on side And I was like, I don't know what this is, but Dbox means moving seats You think theyd do a better job of messaging what all those different tickets meant. in an era where they're trying to get people to the theaters, right These feel special, also they're more expensive I don't know if you had this experience when you saw the Mandalorian this weekend. but I was with my son and my daughter at the Chinese theater in the heart of Hollywood Mmhm the heart of tourist LA On Monday morning There were five total people in the theater including us. And I know there's this whole thing about, you know, whether the Mandalorian was a bomb and how well it did. Let me take a sentence. We went to the same theater and had the exact same experience for the last Avatar movie which made one point five billion dollars Why does every movie feel like a bomb Yeah It used to be meaningful that you were at in an empty theater. You're like, whoa, wow, this is a big story. Now it's like This movie could be doing fairly well Mmhm, but nobody's here. Except us It's really hard to tell. I can I can only speak just anecdotally when I went to go see it. you know, I we walked up and bought tickets likeike we were at the mall And my son was like, Hey there's a movie theater, Did't we were gonna see a movie? I was like, yeah, let's go. there was one playing ten minutes so we win But I had to pick the seats, you know, so they could deliver me my red vines Uh and um And it was like over three quarters full. Right? I mean, it was like packed. We got like, you know, you could either get if you wanted to sit Two people, you're either on the far right side where it's like the, you know, that's at an angle or second to last row in the middle. And so we pick second to last row in the middle, That's where they had a brok se So when the when the Uh previews came on. we just moved. I was like, yeah, maybe they won't be here and if they are We'll move, you know, whatever And it's at that point I realized that like none of the reserve seats showed up. All of the seats that were previously like everybody that was there, I swear was in seats that were available when I bought mine. And like and I swear like ninety percent of the big blue you can't sit here swath was just empty I'm sure Phantases explain this, but something really weird is going on. I' know And it's not just people not going to theaters as much as they used to. I understand the societal trend here. But there are movies that do well M And they're either empty or people are not in the seats that they allegedly bought. Yeah When you looked at the seat med. I the That that's so weird. The box office thing. I mean, it's it's so hard to like just understand and the prices, which you mentioned before It's officially gotten to the point where like I just sort of laugh every time I go buy tickets online because it's so expensive, but it has gotten I feel like laughing is better than what our parents did. But I feel like it has officially gotten inflation and just general just money making techniques, the theaters gotten to the point where it's the way our parent we were reacting the way our parents reacted to movie theater prices. Y parents just didn't get it, right? They They were like They were like twelve dollars for two people to see a movie You got make a movie for twelve dollars. But like now it's officially at the point where it's like if you're not like you go in saying This is a hundred dollars Just like, you know, and we and I got to know that going in Yeah, we did the swing by the gas station to buy the cheap concessions. Oh ye made me feel some amount of shame because again, it's such a apparent thing to do is like the gummies are cheaper here. Yeah M andM's are cheaper. I ain't paying ten bucks each for those I've got to take for you the Star Wars Discourse. has become more interesting than the Star Wars movies themselves Okay, it's certainly become more something. I don't know if I would have gone interesting, but explain We have been talking about Star Wars in a critical way ty seven years now. nineteen ninety nine is when the Fantom Menace came up Mhm. What other Subject in American culture who we've been talking about for twenty seven years LeBron maybe is on the list I've been talking about Jonathan Franzen novels for twenty seven years No. can you think of something that has been a Rolling contentious ofen bug nuts conversation other than Star Wars for that length of time. No, absolutely not Here's how I progressed this last week. You had those people that go to the premiere and apparently are allowed to tweet something about the movie, but not a full review of the movie. you know what I'm talking about. And you've never heard of any of them Yeah. They came out of the Mandalord and Grogu and they were like It's a movie that's pretty good in parts Mhm. That was the first By the way, I love how those people tweet because Tweet like people who've been reading movie posters or watching the TV ads and seeing the One sentence clip from the review their entire lives. Yes. And they write in that very stilted style? Yes I always love when journalists do that. It's like my friend David Shumaker has written a book about Hulk Hogan that's like a wrestling match itself Epic, but also ighly personal. It's like, no, noobbody talks like that. just tweet what you actually think You don't you're not writing for the poster here, right? Maybe you are if you're one of those people So that was a a Rlling Stone guy that was on every poster. Peter Travers,vent. Thank you very much For all the he knew Yeahah, for all we knew the entirety of the written review was one of the year's best exclamation point like that because that's a moment anyone ever saw Its certainly funny We gott to have Peter. is Peter Travers still with us? He is eighty two years young, Peter Travers Come on the press box sometim That was a first wave. then we got the wave when the actual embargo lifted. and we started seeing critical reviews, whichich last I checked were sixty two percent on rotten tomatoes. Is that good? That feels good Yeah Decent is the word for it With all the things we talked about, feels like a TV show, not a movie Also, they made the related point that there have been so many Star Wars TV shows that the movies don't feel special anymore. People are now mad at Dave Faloney He's the new dark Lord of the galaxy, replacing Kathleen Kennedy and before heard George Lucas Another criticism of the Star Wars movie is now to up itself. It's all about cartoons that you may or may not have seen Th yeers that Faloni created himself I've been eagerly awaiting the moment where my seven year old really deep dives all those cartoons so that I can watch them for the first time Um But yeah, yeah, it's it's it's a lot Other critical strands I saw CGI versus practical effects been going on for twenty seven years as well. Yeah The big think pieces is Star Wars a dying brand Oh! There were specific ones Why isn't there an opening crawl in Star Wars movies anymore And also Jeremy Allen White played Rod of the Hut very lazily. Is that a joke Godness elt it felt like a low effort. voice acting performance to me he was like doing, wasas he doing a voice? or did they modify his voice? Allegedly they modified it It felt very odd Yeah. It is a very strange thing where it was like, There were like so many celebrities in the opening credits. I wasn't I didn't do any. I didn't watch any of the preview stuff for this one So when I saw his him, I was like, o cool Jeremy Allllen Waade. It saw Martin Scorsese. I wasm like wait what That's got to be a joke. And then yeah, none of them were actually in in the movie. That's just where we are now, I guess post Guardians of the galaxy or whatever. It's all Celebrity voices which is cool, notot uncool Um Yeah, I just kind of felt like for me and I'm not the most die hard Star Wars fan in the world, but but for me it's like I think they needed and what they've needed for a long time is just to kind of hold serve in the movies, you know, just to not actively anger a huge forortceion of the fan base, not that a lot of that anger was legitimate, but Um, And I thought this one was sort of perfect I did that and I thought they probably needed that just for you know, financial reasons too. Hey, let's just do a regular movie to show people that we can just make a regular movie that doesn't blow up on our faces and you know, doesn't necessarily shoot the moon. But you're right. it's all very The the certainly there is no like Nobody walked out out of the Mandalor and Grogu going, Oh, that like my mind is exploding with how this connects to the story that I know so well or anything like No But the whole talking about Star Wars industrial complex just w Bizerk And some of it's like anger, you know, it's old school yelling at William Shatner at the Star Trek convention stuff But a lot of it's like very thoughtful. Very interesting. I was watching Mallory Rubin and Joanna Robinson doing their House of our brereakdown yesterday. It was like fascinating. I learned they did a great job with that. I learned a ton There are like nine thousand other podcasts like that that are happening right It's an enormously fertile industry talking about Star Wars and it will never end Do you think those never ever end. Do you think that those deep dive podcasts, maybe we don't wan to know the answer to this or we don't say it out loud? Do you think the deep dive podcasts encourage rewatches Or do they just sort of like fit like fill in for a rewatch I think they encourage you to go back They certainly have encourag me to go back and watch TV. I don't know if they encourage you to go buy a ticket I mean and I'm not I'm not disputing it. I just don't know. I would think When it comes back to Disney plus, maybe youre you're interested in going and seeing something you missed. Yeah Be because I know Joanne and Mallory, like they're finding like little parts of the Star Wars universe, which you and I, by the way, you and I once qualified to Star Wars nerds. now we are. peopleople we're like, you know voters. It's like, who's running for president We don't know anything anymore. Our voting platform is like, you know, I vote with the unions. We're just really out of step is what I'm trying to say. I want somebody's gonna to get in there and change things. have some fresh ideas. That's like terist fans now No, I know. You got to I mean, it's they make it fruitful to beember when we were when we were die H Star Wars fans. There was so little content out there And we had didn't even had the cartoons. We even had we had, you know, you can count the first You can count the prequels, I guess, right We'd had novels We theriginal trilogy and then we'd had novels even before the prequ. And weirdly unsubstantiated rumors too. L I didn't know anybody that was on a message board to talk about Star Wars, but I felt like it was like widely known that George Lucas prohibited anyone from using the wookieies in their novels. Do remember that? There was like Yoda's backstory, I think was. Yeah there was like a checklist of three things you weren't allowed to do when you were working in the margins of Star Wars lore Um Yeah., we didn't have any of that stuff Come back to this idea that John Sebberg had in New York when he wrote about Star Wars years ago We said that the magic of original movies was that Things had been lost Westerns by nineteen seventy seven were lost. Old school medieval sword and sorcery tales had been lost and that someomehow the magic and I'm paraphrasing him here, but In the future, we would get these things back Mhm There's this unnameable thing, as he put it that had been lost, but when somehow we would recover it And when you think of Star Wars discourse That idea drives it too whether you're Lost thing occurred from nineteen seventy seven to nineteen eighty three whether you' a child of the prequels That's real Star Wars for you starting in nineteen ninety nine, whether you're younger than that in the first Awesome Star Wars you encountered was Mandalory in season one or Andor There's always this thing that's been lost But there's this possibility, this optimism within Star Wars discourse that We could get there again. Somebody could make a movie or a TV show, we could fire Dave Falloney, we could fire Kathy Kennedy. We could just well, eventually someone will figure this out. and unlock this magic, this pure magic of our childhood one more time And beyond all the just glorious nerding out and being mad That is the thing I think that drives this that something will come along and be great again. Mhm And it's a very optimistic idea V's veryy sweet in a way you and I might have progressed the point where're like, hey, if a cool Star Wars movie comes out, we will go see it. Mhm Also, we're not mad if it doesn't, we'll just forget about it and go read a book or do something else. Sure But I do love that that to me is the gas in the tank Mmhm when it comes to this stuff. So anyway, congratulations to everybody on their Star Wars podcast Yeah, please know there will be decades and decades of Star Wars podcasts to come. This thing ain't going anywhere All right comoming up on the press box, who's doing a better job with the NBA playoffs? ESPN or NBC. We have a side by side comparison Plus, yes, reporters are covering Dond Trump's health Why can't we make reporters like Barbara Walters anymore And we debut a new press boox feature The obligatory list withith a little help from our friend Jason Conceptpso All that much more on the press box, a part of the ringer. Podcast Network Hello media consonsumers, It's Brian Curtis. It's David Schumaker producer John Romer sitting in with us today David Conference finals offer us a chance to see two different ways of covering the NBA. PNs wayay and NBC's wayay I thought we'd do a little side by side compare and contrast. and see who's doing a better job Let's start with the SPN. Okay which got to televise Nick Calves game four last night which anybody who does not host an NBA podcast turned off at halftime A couple of observations. You know how we decided now that every time we have an important NBA game, we show the starting lineups inside the arena That was kind of a cool idea. Yeah Well I'm watching the game. And when the Kicks are announced in Cleveland in Rocket Arena, Ping system or the sound system there played the imperial March First of all, that's a good one. Such an oldie but goody Yeah. But also if you wanted to demoralize the road team Wouldn't you play something else I mean Like you're not a conquering force. Like play something that's a little bit more demeaning. Darth Vader had a lot of road wins before Like the Bny theme song or whatever. likeike is that's a sure. Benny Hill, you say sorry. Benny's a pastor. I'm gonna to get hyper corrective on that for the rest of my life. That's terrible. The Bny Hill theme song guy we sound ridiculous which is what a fool believes. I mean, just something that just doesn't fire us up and feel like the bad guys. also bec what would be the worst song? What would be the worst song that you could get away with playing during another themes another teams. U starting lineup Question You can turn and see You get a nice reaction from YMCA in this day and age for of reasons. Donald Trump likes YMCA. I I feel that's kind of been rescued from culture rememainder b. Well, that's what wasort of pointing at. but yes. How would just like like a very slow moving song evenven YMCU kind of get you fired up Yeah I think a ballad is the way to go. A long ballad. American pie from the beginning. Sure. Wa Do you have to play the whole thing? Yeah. Yes, exactly. They' standing around. we have to evoke that it's their fault that that's happening. Yeah, or or go for the reverse jinks. just play Queens We are the Champions just as they get introduced Sure. And why them all try to hide from cameras while they're like while it's being played Especially if you're down three zer. Yeah why not? Why not Alsoome because the networks showhow us the starting lineups now M They also show us the very generic video that plays on the scoreboard at every NBA stadium before the home team starting lineup. These all look exactly the same Just very funny to see that on television U, sereries is a total dog, so the announced team of Mike Breen, Richard Jefferson and Tim Legler. They were really really trying to make you interested in game four. They were. I enjoy listening to Legl Legler during meaningless basketball about as much as anybody, but he's got a voice that is Like it sounds likes he's trying really hard when he's not. L he's got a very effort fueled voice. He does And by the third quarter, it was it felt like he was doing a lot of work. What wass funny is that at the beginning of the game, they did the whole, you know, the desperate team, they're coming out right. there're three o. they don't want to go down like this and then five minutes into the game they were just callalling the Cav's failure to get back on defense inexcusable. It's like actually these guys suck What do we think about Breen Jefferson and Legler. team now that we've had a little time to live with them I feel like There is a Do you ever prepare an answer for this? 'causeuse I was not prepped. I feel like there's a sort of like antiseptic quality to them overall. that would be the negative Um, You know, Breen is a very withithout the without the history, without, you know, everything that you've gone through Mark my green with has a very has in some ways a very like You know pull the string and watch the announcer tooy play voice, you know, there's a very like just a sort of robotic Aspect to it and Both the color guys are They don't come I mean, they don't project as like that's a guy I'd like to have a beer with on the broadcast, right? They're not just affect. It's a lot of brains too But I think they're all really good I think something because because of The style of their delivery I think I've was waiting for them to kind of sink into a more comfortable place that would really make it click But I don't I mean, I don't really have any complaints. It's just not Hm. I, you know, like I think they do like an overall pretty good job. I would I guess I would you know what I'll give you a personal example. My dad's a preacher, as close listeners as this podcast might know. When I went to college, we tryed to find a new church to go to is what it does in Texas It was really hard for me to find someone who was just like, you know, I've been listening to my dad for all but like, you know, thirty weeks my entire life But my choice was to go with like the egghead. He wasn't as charismatic as my dad. He wasn't asither he didn't do a lot of things like my dad But like I never felt like I was being talked down to. And that was I realiz had to talk ball essentially. Yeah I realized that was my baseline. I wanted someone that like did the homework, you know, and like wanted to feel like And and I feel like that's what this that's the way I feel about this this booth a lot deffinitely Tim Legler Ill tell you the thing that struck me about them and maybe this goes to your sense of them be feeling mechanical. Mhm Richard Jefferson Tim Legler don't really talk to each other They're both doing the game They're both saying interesting things But they're not interacting all that much. I feel like they interacted aroundound or two ago. I'm trying to remember I wrote I wrote down the joke But it was like Tim like it was it Tim Legler's expense. And it was totally funny, but I think that like we weren't sure if Legler was in on the joke at any point during the whole thing, you know, and it was just so it just came off kind of awkward Legla for some reason always has to do a gambling read in the middle of the game And last night, RJ did the thing of like, you know, I would have liked to have been asked to have done this read. Oh my gosh. RJ does this all the time And it does not come across very well. I mean, it does, I guess, I came across to me Yes, it doesn't it doesn't feel like he has like the contempt for Tim Legler that he did. it felt like he had for Doris Burke last year. Yeah who just was like blowing her off. And I think part of it, his sense of humor is very dry Ver d Easy to misread. He did have a funny moment last night when they were talking about all the Kicks fans who'd flown in to see them close out the series Tracy Morgan, Fat Joe, etcetera. And he said, it's so cool to see them in Cleveland for the first time. That was good But I feel like he carries himself like the lead dog the lead analyst And he is just doing the game Whatever Tim Legler does is just going to happen over here Yeah. call in the game. mean contrasted with the way Reggie Miller and Jamaal Crawford talk to each other on NBC. It feels very team effort Yeah Ran Hill and Bill Rafterty on CBS doing in the final four It's just interesting. And I don't know if that's just Jefferson's personality and off that's how his sense of humor hits, but That's what I keep coming back to Now I've I've always enjoyed Jefferson's sense of humor. And don't I don't think he should necessarily change. It'd be nice if everybody the other two guys in the booth reacted to it maybe more in a more apparent way, but but but yeah, I mean, I think they're all very individually very good at what they're doing And I don't know that I don't sit around saying, manan, I wish they had better chemistry, but certainly that would be where the You know, where the holes are partart of it, they just haven't worked together No, not at all aesthetics of the SSPN broadcast I wrote these down last night. We still have oldldies going into break ESPN will never Like, you know, Sirius is closing down all their oldie stations. ESPN is still keeping the light on for Songs from the sixties and seventies At the end of the first half, we had this crazy choppy video fly around. maybe it's the first quarter. We have a stadium that looked like something that was produced in the nineties They you know how I always make fun of ESPN for having like pictures of old basketball players as we go to commercial Last night they actually had John Stark's and his dunk against the Blls in ninety three. And I was like, nice. This is relevant. Here's John Stark's court side. Here's a great moment in Nick's history This feels relevant to the game rather than here is a picture of a LeBron for instance Then we get to halftime And man, if ESPN has the advantage over NBC anywhere, it is the halftime show It's inside the NBA Of course, it's going to be better But you know what? lastast time we get there and the halft Te show starts with Barclely saying I looked up, I quit in the dictionary and they put a graphic up and it just said Cavaliers. Cavaliers are getting killed at halftime And then Kenny and Shaq just put on top hats and we're dancing and singing start spreading the news. And it's halftime. The game's not over, but they're just like, actually we're not going to pretend. we know the cals have given up This series is over. It was like That as really funny. It was a smart move too from just a programming point of view because by the end of the game There was all the aerror was taken out of the studio show too. I mean, it was just like it was like You know, all the fans who had walked out of the arena I'm sure had been shutting off the TV. It was one of the most low key post game shows, especially a conference winning, you know, conference title winning post game shows I could remember. In the Kicks. like that's a big deal that the Kicks are in the finals My brain's been calling Nick gamame since nineteen ninety seven. Marv Albert went into timeout So he was around for the ninety nine finals It's very cool that Breen is calling a N finals Born in New York C. He went to Fordham Fordham the school that also gave us Vince Sully and Michael Kay.ord Very expensive, some exclusive school now compared to when they were going there. We go on it is it an expensive place? No, we just did some college we're just done with the college tour season. It's it's everything in New York th. know I mean, it's Like I feel like you could used to be able to go to some of those You know lesser known New York City schools for Community college prices, but no not anymore. It's all very expensive Bring has said that he and Michael Kay, when they were there would talk about the jobs they wanted to have Mm. Breins call nick games lead NBA announcer call in the NBA Finals and Kays call in the Yankees Here's Breen talking to me. Mly, they both wanted to do tennis.ull they realize their true dream Here's a brain talking to Monica McNutt on MSG about a Nick finals All right, Mike, before we let you turn the page to the finals responsibility at large, you and Clyde have sat with this organization through the highs and lows for you personally and for your partner, Clyde. What goes through your mind? It brings such joy. I mean, I've been broadcasting nick games more than half my life And again, to sit next to one of the all time greats and have this lifetime friendship with them. I get emotional thinking about it And you know, we've broadcast a lot of bad basketball for a long time And again, it's to see the game played in the most beautiful way for Clyde to say this team reminds him of he doesn't say that very often For him to say that Jalen Brunson reminds him of the leadership of Willis He doesn't say that about anybody. So that kind of jooy, it's the way the game is supposed to be played and there's such a high character bunch that you root for them because of the effort and the type of young men that they are. So I mean, there's just such joy. I've been rooting for the Nick since I was seven years old And to have a team like this is pretty pretty darn special. Cool thing about brain Is there is a vulnerability to him Mm A human quality that is very hard for a lot of announcers to project at least project in a convincing way Mhm He's a lot like Scott Van Pelton that way. Yeah. belieelve, brain when he takes out the earpiece and leaves MSG as a real person who has feelings Mhm and thoughts And again, maybe that's, you know, we're thinking about that because we've been watching him and talking about him during this period in his life when his house burned down and other things, you know, that he's that we' we've sort of weathered with him hit COVID and miss part of the finals a couple of years ago is' a quality to him This very cool We mentioned Walt Clyde Frasier is, you know, Nick's Both partner. and there's some of that to him too. I mean for I think everybody's first first opinion first yeah. your first opinion of of Wulkclyde Fraser is that he's basically just like an animatronic, you know, like like like, you know, fantastical creation Um And especially if you aren't familiar with this playing career, you're just like, what am I watching right now? Who is Why is there a legend that only exists on, you know, MSN or I mean, not MSN, I mean, MSG. But he's also like strikingly like sentimental and human if you listen to him a lot. you know, There's a lot of that to both of them. So I think that's really that's really significant Over the next week or two, you're probably going to see Peace that asks if Mike Breen callall a Nicks finals in an unbiased manner We don't have to do this. noobody, nobody cares Nobody is actually mad at that. If somebody's mad at that, that just means they're an O Cer or San Antonio fan and they're just mad anyway Yeah. we don't even have to acknowledge that that's an idea. M. You see all the people getting mad at Joe Davis the other day when he was calling the Mets game and it was Oh no, the Mets. It's like that doodgers's announcer has it in for the mas. Is this isn't this the perfect I mean, just the intersection of of Like you know, referee conspiracs and just journalism conspiracisties, like people that care about people that care so much about Yeah You know, journalistic integrity, although they probably couldn't tell you what it is. they can just tell you when they're mad about it or whatever. Yeah, or they have to just like fit everything into a Columbia journalism review box, likeike, willill Mike Breen be able to be unbiased? Who gives a shit It doesn't matter. Yes is the answer. G away And Joe Davis, making fun of the Mets is America's pastime We're not going to take that away from him. And you think like a doodger' announer is bias against the Mets, you don't adger' anoucer be bias against the freaking Yankees Get out of here with that stuff. Yeah Get out of here. NBC David We opened on Sunday night with the Lenny Kravz Mhm Corded open I could have saved NBC a lot of money and said, you know what Carry undernderwood work, let's just Let's declare victory and not do this anymore. I know we want to make this look special, but I don't know if we needed this so much Who would you get if you were in charge of recording the next song Do we have can't we just save the money Do we have to pick somebody? Yeah, that would be the move. Who wrote the Benny Hill theme song? Can we get a move? Just use free like, you know, just some free music off of the internet or whatever. somethinghing that'res that's unlicensed so you can do it. And then just the whole video package is you throwing the money around that you didn't spend on the song Don McLanain is still alive and still touring if we want American Pie to open inBC. Do you imagine it's just a thirteen minute song How is he only eighty That's unbelievable U NBC anou'ced team' old Wh who's older Don McLlean about Clyde Fraser I think I'm going to go early eighties for rier right? That's correct. The thing is eighty one. I just looked it up and forot but I believe he's definitely older than NBC's announceced team is Torico, Reggie Miller and Maul Crawford Mhm Watching Game four of Spurs Thunder. There were so many great Turico moments to open the game Frost Bank Center where the sppurs play is three miles east of San Antonio Mm. It such a Turico detail. Yeah Not only not only is it not sanitized three miles and it' specifically east He noted that Wemby had won the opening tip of each of the first four games the series. All right loveove it Um Miller and Crawford talk to each other. more mention that. I still feel like Jamal Crawford is playing The sixth man, even as an announcer I'm not a featured guy here I got to come in and get my shots where I can. Yeah I'm never going to be exactly the lead announcer, but he's doing a good job. He's making those moments matter You know't really what I really like about Crawford I spoke his praises, sung his praises previously on the show, but what I've really liked this post season is that he's cooler than Reggie and Reggie's very aware of it H that there's a that there is a clearly there is like a haall of Fame resume imbalance between the two. but I feel like feel like But it's balanced out by just the cool the coolness factor So it's so so Reggie Miller Wh might who in and, you know, might be tempted to talk over somebody else who's sitting in that third seat after his, you know, with all the games that he's called in this time is a little bit just, you know, has that sort of reverence for Jamal Crawford that that maybe, you know, someone wouldn't expect. That's such a good point Is that why Reggie overcompensated and wore the pin striped Blazer on Sunday night They look like Nathan Detroit. I mean, and Regie is great for his longevity, such as it is that he's also the connective tissue between the other two guys in the booth. I mean, they are of such separate generations. It defies even the normal I'm'm I'm a play by play guy. I'm an player vibe, right? So it's Reggie holds it all together Reggie is really frustrated to a lot of people. I understand why He does not frustrate me that much. He's, you know how I used to say Tichman sounds like football? Yeah. Reggie sounds like basketball to me. Maybe that's because we've had such a lack of continuity over on theSPN that he's the one analyst who feels like he stretches across more than one point five years of professional basketball. Yeah. He sounds like basketball to. It's true. And I think even to his I to take nothing away from Troy, I think both of them sounded a little bit corny when they started. I think they sounded like they were trying to do a voice or whatever. when they first started And both of them have sort of grown into it NBC does a really good job of feeling the moment during a game Mhm. Game for The sppur scored fourteen points in a row in the first quarter went up twenty one eight Mhm and time out And the truck is like, okay We're not doing music here to go to the break We're not doing oldldies, we're not doing pictures of old basketball players. We're doing nothing We're going to take a shot of the crowd. and just let that cheering play us off That's it And again, that's just a moment where You didn't plan on that That's not on your sheet It's just like understanding the moment of the game. Spurs are kicking ass. They're about they're feeling like they're going to tie this series. Let's do that All right Yeah, yeah, you're right There wass another moment that Jordan Cornett and the Nuns, did you see that whole thing where' being blessed by the nuns. So as soon as he has a big moment. We are going back to the nuns M in the crowd all sitting together. Yep, looking amazing That's some great old school NBA on NBC stuff from the nineties J that sense of humor knowowing when to go to it, knowing not to overdo it but it's a little moment and then you move on to do the best. Very, very good producing on that telecast The halftime show Okay. H You don't like it. Maria Taylor, Carelo, Anthony, Try Mcrady and Vince Carter M Didn't it feel like one of those NBA super teams that was made out of veterans are over I feel who are over I feel like if we put them all together's like, yeah, we could win We're all our best days are behind us, but what if we have a lot of us? I don't disagree with you, but I do kind of feel like everybody's coming out kind of following the Duane Wade model of like I am going to shrink to the ro to the size of my role, sorry, sort of, you know, it's just like, I am not the star of the show. I'm just here to do a job You know, And I feel like everybody's very very I don't know. Like, everybody's just like very Um kind of refined. Everybody's very like like like holding it holding back almost a little bit. It just seems very low key sometimes. You know what it reminds me of reminds me of NBC's NFL halftime show where they don't have the stars on that level. But it's all very modular. like ye, I'm gonna talk And then you're going to talk Yeah. and then you're going to talk and then Maria iss going to pick it up and it's all It all feels like it's happening in exactly as many seconds as it's supposed to happen And it's very smooth. And then you go to break and I'm like, I don't remember a single thing anybody said I don't remember even one point. And they were on the court for Game four for the halftime show, and I could barely hear any of It was like, I cannot hear these people talking Mello to me, should be better at this. And I don't know if we just need to unlock something from Mello, but He had a he has a chance. I won't say hat. he has a chance to be really, really good. for sure And I don't know. it if he just needs to be a little more Critical, assertive, sharper Sharper elbows Yeah. I mean, he's very much being himself, right? I mean, I think he's one of the guys for whom like Well, if if you're a fan of his broadcast work, like it's I think it's it helped him to have a podcast, you know, and to sort of put in some put do the reps put of the reps without you know, trying to just strictly emulate Richard Jefferson, orver whoever had done it before him Um But it does feel almost like likeike it's it doesn't it almost doesn't match the vibe of any halftime show. Like like I can easily as much imagine that he could change none and be widely regarded as the best to ever do it in ten years or that like, you know, this is just like going to be seen as the greatest fail experiment ever. I just feel like he's not of this of this time At least for like, you know justust people like me I don't know why it is because Dirk's very laid back on Amazon and he seems to be more effective. m. It's not like Dirk's crit D Steve Nash. That's a very that's a very that was that's the most laid back show, I guess. It's the most laid back, but somehow to me it it works a little better Mhm. than Mello. Yeah Only in sports journalism, this is from alert listener Joe Gedelski Notes that the Kyickxs took a commanding Hm. three series lead and Cleveland was trying to claw its way back into the series. How many times did you hear those words All right, David coming up in thirty seconds. you heard us right box is making lists now But first, let's do the overwork Twitter joke of the week where we celebrated a gag that was so obvious that all of media Twitter made it at exactly the same time Senior nomineinista at the pressbox pod where they are always, always gratefully received David, you saw the news that Republican congressman and noted Trump critic Thomas Masssey. lost his primary in Kentucky's fourth district. giving Trump yet another victory on his revenge to her He was an overward Twitter joke to write Th thinkink of it as losing a congressman Think of it as gaining a podcaster If you thought congrats to MS now on its new Republican pundit Congrats, you made the overworked Twitter joke the week things in the notebook dump I was reading Dan Diamond storory. In the Washington Post on Donald Trump's health Diamond writes that President Donald Trump on Tuesday is expected to undergo his third scheduled medical checkup in thirteen months Trump went in a checkup last April and then in October Turns out that was for a CT scan to rule out any cardiovascular issues. The administration has not been forthcoming about any of this, not surprisingly And of course you have this whole Twitter, journalism, looking at photos, culture of lookook at Trump's bruised hands, what's going on with that that has leaked a little bit into the mainstream press Diamond notes that a recent poll conducted last month found that a recent poll conducted last month. A recent poll found that forty percent of Americans thought Trump had the mental sharpness to serve as president down from forty seven percent last September And forty four percent of Americans thought Trump had the physical he to do the job down from fifty four percent last September And I bring this up because One of my favorite tweets is, hey, Jake Tapper, Alex Thompson. What about Trumps stamina What about Trump's ability to be president Please look around being reported The Iran negotiations are Ogoing As we record this podcast There was a media piss test pointed out by alert listener Dylan Hirsch. unnamed official told CNN that when it came to coming out to some kind of peace agreement with the Iranians. M. It was Trust but verify on steroids I love that Oh when I just wanted to mention this to you, this is video going around of Barbara Walters interviewing Donald Trump. Have you seen any clips of this No, I've not. This is the stuff of liberal Twitter accounts like Brooklyn, Dad Defiant. likeike why can't Porters ask questions like Barbara Walters did. This is the early nineties interview she was doing with Trump two things. wonderfully ironic that this is circulating on Twitter at the moment that Brendon Carr is asking whether the view Barbara Walter's old show should be considered a news show or not a new show Number one and number two I want to go back in a time machine and tell young Brian and young David. that someday people will be saying, why can't we have TV interviewers like Barbara Walters anymore Only somebody was willing to ask the truly tough question of our politicians and our celebrities Finally, David, a new feature here at the press boox Turns out you and I have been doing things where. to find a point on it We thought we could create a hit podcast. Mhm solely by focusing on ethics in media urn turns out all we did was It didn't All we did was create a thirst trap for Brian Stelter and Ben Moullin What we should have been doing, David was making lists Oh, well, okay Every hit podcast makes lists They make lists of the next podcast, they're making another list. Why did you and I not get on the bandwagon early Um, I think we've trained ourselves to be a little bit snarky you know, from it from our Styler and Waldor Fesqu seats up here. No, we don't we don't we don't have to do what all they what all would all those people have to do What a mistake on our part. Oh, huge trarain ourselves that way. Yeah But we're going to make a list. We're going to air quotes it Stadlern Waldderer style, we'll call this the obligatory list. And here to start this new feature is an old friend. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a fifty page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online makes sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responssees set upp required compatibility and availability varies eighteen pllus Jason Concepscion The New York Kicks are in the finals That's amazing. It's happened. I can't believe it. I'm floating on air. It's been wonderful. There at no point during this Eastern Conference final series againainst the Cavs, was I concerned And that is strange. So just amazing. You weren't concerned up twenty seven in the first half last night? I can show you my N WhatsApp chat where I say multiple times in that chat, we're fine. We're going to win this game. And I believed it. And I don't understand who this person is, I felt that way. You're here to help us kick off this new feature. Yes. It's called the obligatory list.. We've kind of fallen behind at the press box. Okay. We're the whole list game. We're talking a lot about media ethics.. So I thought you could help us with this one. Top five Kicks fans who will benefit from a finals run Career wise, personal wise. Define it however you like. Okay top five Kicks fans who will benefit from a finals run Your number five selection, sir. And this is going to be in no order of impact on their personal financial or professional careers U Mayor Mamani. Okay. I'm going to put number one. I think it would be a I think he's already come in with tremendous momentum. a few kind of hiccups aside And I think being there when if the KXs should win it all, I think would be a tremendous feather in his cap It'll be something that people will always talk about. He will be linked to that Fast forward fifty years when they do the documentary on, you know on the twenty twenty five, twenty six season. He will appear in it multiple times And as a talking head, one would assume. So I will go with with the mayor who I will also say his sports fandom mirrors mine. I'm an arsenal supporter and a Ks fan 's been a great time to be both of those And so he must be absolutely buzzing. and I really feel like it would a cosmic stamp of approval on his administration as mayor. Sewer socialism works. Yes, if the Nicks can win a title It's it's, you know Mandani San, welcome So last night he had the retweet of a Vake Ramaswami. who was in Cleveland as a camS fan. That was fantastic. He had the tweet to the New York Sanitation Department I'm a reporter sweep. Rorter S sweep, beautiful. That was funny. Do we believe he's a real sports fan? Like he could talk Nicks with you in a Yeah. I mean, there's there's been archival content that has come up of him talking Nicks, talking arsenals from years past. and I' absolutely no doubt He was in the upper deck the other day too. Tuly a man of the people. And people tried to, you know, the New York Post, the the beleaguered New York Post tried to tried to criticize him for that saying that mayayor Mandami appears at a Nick game taking an opportunity away from a real fan and spending, you know, untold amounts of money on a ticket.' that's the nosebleleeds, folks. Come on withith the real people. comeome on. comeome on, no N game is cheap. You think the nosebleleeds are cheap. Yeah. All right number four on your list Chalinee came. U I think he's he's another one is a absolute real legitimate Nicks fan. You can't fake the picture of him And It was Landry Fields, like at Grand Central Station With a young Chalamy looked to be twelve or thirteen years old. like they had the Ks players ran some sort of find us like a fine Waldo type feature and it was A young Tim Chalamy that did it I just think he is The future of Nicks celebrity fandom. He's going to be R Jack Nicholson for decades to come. and There's no doubt that his rise to that prominence as a feature at Nick Games has also mirrred the success of the team and I think it'll be Fantastic for both entities to continue the success. And it's good timing. It's great timing. He just lost the Best Actor Award. He got into an argument with ballet the art of ballet art of ballet, which he's handled I think with some Grace Gace of a ballerina, you would say. And and this is America and nothing washes away the taint of Controversy like success and winning So I think I think Bygones will be bygones. This is what reminds us of what we like about Tim Chhalomeay. This and the Dune three will will be him. Okay, so Chalomeay, number three. Um You know, Spike, I have to say Spike, these are not going to be good. you know I think Spike needs a lift too. I think Spike needs a lift. He was there for the original Championships sixty nine and seventy. That's right as a like young person. As a young man, he used to tells these stories. He used to sneak into the garden. He has the original Championship banner somehow he is I guess they u, you know He created the banners to be more aesthetically in line with the banners they currently hang. and so the original banner he somehow purchased. So I just think, you know, obviously it would mean a lot to him I will say that one time I was wearing Nicks gear on an airplane and a guy came up to me and was like, I thought you were Spike Ly. So now every time we see Sike At a game at my house, my wife goes, Look, there you are. And he could get another movie commission. That's not crazy. We see Spikely We're reminded, you know? I think if they do the twenty five twenty six documentary or the documentary about this period of the Kicks Since Jaylen Brunson came or since Leon Rose came, whatever the Demarcation is going to be, I think he will be the guy that makes it. These are three great talking hits for documentaries. One Donnie, Chalamay, and Spike Ly. Yes. All right, number two. U cited really? be There might be a media Kicks fan coming up. Oh, I think there will be. Let's see Let me think about this let me think about this as we are as we', you know, losing spaces here I say Well, let me do this first. myself. I'm gonna put myself in there number four. Jason himself. I think my And I'll say this candidly, you know, I think that My the lane that opened for me through social media too Media Bnd in large part because of when insanity which putut a lot more eyes on m twets at the time allowed me to co author a book with various other New York area Nick writers about Lanity about that period and Just the fact that we're talking about the Nix right now in almost June Um I can't even imagine if they win it what that will feel like. the people that have reached out to me already being like, it's happening. Do you believe it? It's happening So myself. And I and I'll tag on like all the Nicks fans I know who are also Sean Fantassey as part of this.. you know, I think Sean having a Rpite from the Mets Yeah is going to be fantastic for him And I loved listening to him with Bill the other day talking about what this all means. likeike this is This is a tremendous moment for Nick fans whether or not we win the championship, and I really hope we do All right, Jason himself and also Seaan. numberber two Number one Nick Fan who will benefit from a finals run is Um put them I'm gonna put them all together. Okay. All the Nicks Legends who sit in the Ns Legend seats. That's Patrick Ewing, John Starks Matrell Spreewell. Larry Johnson Bernard King, Tim Thomas. all of them It's I mean I'll be honest, they started this movement, I would I want to say ten years ago, once Nick always a Nick. It seemed like a joke at the time. like they began with this slogan of as an attempt to like connect the Kicks to their past greatness you know, the current modern culture of the Ns two that passed and it seemed very surface level at first, but It's grown into something I think that truly feels organically different than that and the fact that Jayen Brunson grew up around the team. because of his dad being a bench player on the team. You see all these pictures of young Jayalen and Nick gear, young Jaylen with Marcus can have a young jail and sitting on Fatric Ging's lap like running around the The locker room of the garden I think that there is a genuine affinity from that group of legends, N' leegends with this current team. through Jalen Brunson and his dad that is real. And I think it will be a tremendous catharsis for ople like you and people like Starks who were so close at one time and didn't manage to do it Um, So I think, you know, for the leegends, for those Nx leegends, I think this will be tremendous if they can win. I love that because you know, I like sports nostalgia. but sports nostalgia is often badly handled Yeah. When I see those Nicks at courourtsside, I'm I'm like, this is cool. These people are cool Yeah. Patrick Ewing is cool. John Starks is cool Like these guys, I'm not a Nicks fan, but they are cool. It is cool to see them there. Yeah. I mean, when you you can't they're not good enough to act out the emotions that they' clearly having. I mean, like, listen, it got a little dusty in the house when Clyde Frasier and Ewing delivered the Eastern confference MVP to Jayen Brunson is just an incredible circle moment and we haven't even closed the circle all the way. Like if they can do this, it is going to be a great thing. And even if they don't do this, that will be painful. But these are the good old days right now, those good times are happening now And I'm just drinking it up. It's fantastic. I notice you left Stevenen A off your list. Well Wh can you go from where he is? here's why. The argument is that. he's going to have a lot of content over there He will, But like would that not have been the case? Here's my case for leaving Steven in. Case number one He's at the apex And I don't think you can go higher than where he is O than the presidency, which I don't think will happen, and I don't think the Ks will elevate him there If they do indeed win Number two to your point about the content, the content is going to be there. Win, lose Nick's in the finals, someomebody else in the finals some other thing happening Steven A we'll fill that space And then Thirdly I I don't want to speak for NickX Fans which are that's a massive population of people. But the corner of Nicks fandom that I am in and that I engage with m via social media and elsewhere I think there is a there is a Astro turfy carpet baggy There's a you know, there's an open it's an open question as to what kind of Nick fan Steven A really is and what the legitimacy of that is and And how much of it is a put on for the cameras and for the persona of Stehen A. Smith And so for all of those reasons, did I did not put him there But there's no question that he is at the pinnacle of success already feeleels very opportunistic I felt like there was a moment where every TV opinion guy had to just claim the team. So Nick Wright goes chiefs., Skip went Cowbys Stehven A went Nicks. And you record videos of yourself in the car being mad or throwing a jersey in the dumpster when they lose. The Newew York Kicks. You know, that kind of that kind of diatribe And and I agree with you. it feels there's a It rings hollow in some way that I can't put my finger. But I think a lot of people may feel that This is a strong list. Thank you. We're going to listen to you on the Wait a secondcond podcast. That's right. where you'll be sorting through conspiracy theories, many of which turn out to be true in twenty twenty six That's the world we live where we live in Jason, thanks for coming to the p. Thanks for having. All right, thanks to Jason. It's time for David Shoemaker Guesses, the strained pun headline. Yeah. Last week's headline about Vegas' NHL team shutting out the press was Silent nights. Silent nights Today's headline comes from dozens of alert listeners. I will give it to. Twitter to forty six percent on Blue sky Uh It's from Vulture David The seventy ninth. C's fil con film filt Con. arere we calling conon? I feel like con I feel like it was Con and Show I was told that was wrong. But the seventy ninth Con film festival Kicks off next week. But you know who won't be doing any kicking off kicking on or off anytime soon. Jacob Alordi He was not only the conjury David because of a foot injury So I want you to think of Jacob Alordi missing jury duty at Con As you ponder, what was Vultures's strain pun headline Well he was in Pride and Prejudice. He was in Frankenstein Yeah, that's that's kind of high tone for this. This is real this is just pretty basic, but just a lot of puns Let's start with the name of the film festival Ct con he didn't go so he did this to his on plans God. Hand? Yes, Jacob Alordi cans con plans not in jury due to injury. That's the full headline Good stuff. I think we could have done better Well Don't tell that to the nice people at Vulture who provided us with some grist for our. I've got my Ilordy alordy, lookook who's forty headlinees is waiting waiting in the back pocket here When you turn forty were you were a recipient of any greeting card that bore that inscription? I'm sure, I'm sure He is David Shumemaker. I'm Brian Curtis. Back to magic. by John Romer. Thankk you so much, John. Follow us on IG at Pressbox Ringer Write us press press boox ringer at Gmail. com Yesterday, David, Memorial Day, we had a special episode of this podcast go up. Sarah Longwell publisher of the Bullworark. I've been wanting to have her on and I saw she was in town doing a live show Incidentally that featured Van Late in our very own vil So she was nice enough to come into the Ringer headquarters here on Friday. We had a great discussion about Trump. post Trump GOP, what her focus groups are telling her about Vance and Rubio, building the bllwork, all kinds of things. That podcast is up right now for your enjoyment Joel's here on Thursday and David I'll see you next Tuesday. Actually, I won't see you next Tuesday. You know what we should do? We should announce this You and are about to record the May issue of the press button Mhm Do we want to tease it or just leave it as a big old question mark? Let it be a surprise. Let it be a surprise. Davave and I are going to record that tomorrow Mhm. And then that will be up on Sunday, may thirty first. Yeah, sneaking under the rope M for May I will see you then David with more lukewm takes about the ee you later, Bri